“I have an eight-year track record of building consensus with conviction and courage in the legislature,” she says. “I think I have been a strong advocate for the people and have gotten results.”
The Burlington Democrat has been reaching out to lawmakers this week to enlist their support and plans to hold a formal campaign kickoff on October 26 at Burlington’s Main Street Landing.
Ram, who is 29 years old, isn’t the first young Democrat to announce plans to run for the position, which is being vacated by Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott. Twenty-eight-year-old Brandon Riker announced earlier this year that he’s seeking the job. But unlike Riker, a political novice, Ram has served in the legislature since she was 22.
For the past three years, she’s worked as a public engagement specialist for the city of Burlington. Ram says she hopes to remain in the city’s employ even as she seeks higher office.
“I think anyone who knows me sees me as a connector and someone who can take an agenda and advance it and bring the right people to the table,” she says.
As lieutenant governor, Ram says, she would focus on strengthening the middle class, increasing access to higher education, expanding family leave policies and making childcare more affordable.
Brandon Batham, who chairs the Windham County Democratic Party, will manage her campaign.
Randy Brock, a former state auditor and senator, is the only Republican in the race. The 2012 gubernatorial nominee announced two weeks ago that he would make another run for statewide office.
Ram says she plans to “stay really positive” in her campaign and hopes to engage in “a good exchange of ideas” with Riker, Brock and any others who enter the race.
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Another Prog disguised as a Dem.
“knowyourassumptions” – Ram is a Democrat. But she does work for a Republican (here in Burlington) who’s disguised as a Democrat.
No, he actually IS a Dem. One of the few Dem officeholders in Vermont who isn’t really a Prog. You might remember Dems like, oh, say, FDR (the founder of the modern Democratic Party, who gave us the New Deal), Harry Truman (who ended WW II), JFK (who gave us tax cuts, a booming economy, civil rights, the space program, and who fought totalitarianism around the world), and Bill Clinton (who gave us the best economy we have seen in decades). And closer to home you might recall pro business Dem Gov. Howard Dean, who cut taxes and presided over the best economy Vermont ever saw. All of those people would be booed and shouted down at a Vermont Democratic Party convention today.
Best news of the day! I think Ms. Ram would bring excellent and meaningful Vermont values to the Lieutenant Governor’s office. Can’t wait for the first debate!
Faulty assumptions rear their clueless head again.
Governor Howard Dean regularly appears at Democratic conventions and events throughout the state, yet never gets booed or shouted down. (Please please please cite an actual example of him being booed and shouted down!) And progressive Democrats across Vermont enthusiastically backed when he ran for President, but was rejected by DLC types nationally.
Kesha Ram ran for and was elected to office as a Democrat running against a Progressive incumbent, and has been re-elected running as a Democrat against Progressive candidates. (What a poor disguise for a Progressive!.)
Vermont Democrats and progressives (and Progressives) revere FDR who established the basis of the modern social welfare state that Dems, Progs, and progressive Democrats all fight for. The New Deal was, in every sense of the word, a “progressive” initiative that was rejected by conservative Democrats. FDR would be greeted with adulation if he reappeared at a modern Vermont Democratic State Convention – not booed or shouted down.
Must be rough to be pretending to be a Democrat yet rejecting everything that the modern Democratic Party stands for, focused only on attacking every current Democratic officeholder and candidate as being too “progressive” to satisfy an outdated cold war worldview.
I wonder if there’s room in the LG’s office for her life-sized cardboard cut-out of Ram shaking Obama’s hand.
Terjeanderson spin doctor score: 95.
When Dean actually held public office (Vt. Gov. 1991-2002) he was a moderate, pro-business, budget hawk. He spent most of his governorship at war with the Democrats in the legislature. Thank god.
The fact that Ram ran against a Prog was about party politics and electoral power, not political philosophy. There is no policy daylight between her and the guy she beat. In fact, Zuckerman complained at the time that Ram should not be running against a Prog because there were no actual policy differences between them. Ram is a Prog in disguise.
You say Vermont Dems “revere” FDR. That’s like Republicans “revering” Reagan — but they would never let the actual Reagan be their nominee anymore. And Vermont Dems would never nominate the actual FDR for anything.
And whose “pretending” to be a Democrat? The guy you’re supporting for President over the ACTUAL Democrats in the race. You know, the guy who won his first elected office by running against an ACTUAL Democrat. You know, the guy who’s spent his entire political career openly hating on Democrats.